Everyday, I go to RCP (which yes, I know has a Conservative Bias) and I check out the latest polls. I have to say - I was very surprised to see this one from Fox News of all places.
If the presidential election were held today, how would you vote if the candidates were: 13-15 May
Obama: 46%
Romney: 39%
Other: 3%
Don't Know: 8%
Won't Vote: 4%
Imagine my surprise at seeing this. So then I went down to read the questions and some other things struck me. Like this:
What would you say is the main reason you are supporting Barack Obama?
25% said Doing a Good job and just 11% said that he was not Romney
On the other hand.. when asked:
What would you say is the main reason you are supporting Mitt Romney?
40% said he is NOT Barak Obama, and only 14% said it is because he is Republican/Conservative (which is interesting in the phrasing of the question).
40%... Wow, now that is enthusiasm defined. Almost half of Republican voters (at this point) are voting for their candidate because he is NOT someone else. How pathetic is that.
But then look at question # 13... Do you approve of the job President Obama is doing:
49% Yes
47% No
That is Obama +2 with a +8 Favorable (52-44)
Mitt Romney by contrast has a +2 Favorable(45-43)
As a whole the Democratic Party has a +4 FAVORABLE rating while the Republicans sit at -3 (45-48) and the Tea party at -11 (35-46)
There are some other very telling questions here but I thought this was interesting enough to post a short piece about.